Environmental impact assessment of new district developments

Abstract

Over the last decade, the term "sustainability" has figured prominently in city planning discussions aiming to create comfortable places to live, work, learn and relax. In an accelerated world, the need to set standards that guide city development becomes necessary and important. In the case of Qatar, where globalization has proclaimed new types of projects and facilities, GSAS, the Global Sustainability Assessment System (formerly known as QSAS, Qatar Sustainability Assessment System) has emerged as a new local initiative that aims to sustain existing and upcoming projects. The paper aims to assess a defined urban development typology "the districts development"; and tests a GSAS district new tool in order to enhance it. While the first part of the paper introduces the theoretical framework for environmental impact assessment (EIA) and develops a comparative analysis between two main international systems; the second part focuses on selected criteria within the district development and their implementation in the GSAS district tool. Finally, a set of framework and design guidelines is developed in order to refine the GSAS districts emerging tool. © 2014 WIT Press.